Online retailer Overstock will rebrand as Bed Bath & Beyond

After acquiring the IP assets during its bankruptcy, Overstock.com plans to retire its brand and reposition itself as Bed Bath & Beyond.

Speaking in an interview, Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson said that the firm abstained from bidding on Bed Bath & Beyond’s inventory or retail locations. Therefore, Overstock will remain an online-only home goods retailer, combining its strengths with a better-known and stronger brand name.

Johnson added that he had liked Bed Bath & Beyond’s name for a very long time, but didn’t like the stores or the inventory, asking the customers not to expect any stores from the new Bed Bath & Beyond.

Johnson claimed that Overstock's generic brand name has been a setback for the business and that it does not accurately capture the company's current emphasis on online furniture and home goods sales.

According to Johnson, before Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy, Overstock believed that a complete rebrand would take several years and potentially several million dollars. However, at a bankruptcy public sale, Overstock was able to purchase the name and customer information of Bed Bath & Beyond for $21.5 million. 

With a new Bed Bath & Beyond website functional in Canada, Overstock plans to go live with a US website in August 2023.

In addition to being online-only, the new Bed Bath & Beyond may be less dependent on coupons than customers were used to, Johnson added.

Bed Bath & Beyond, once an incredibly popular retailer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2023 after struggling for several years with declining sales and a failed merchandising strategy.